RS

FRONT PAGE CONTRIBUTOR

Baltimore Police Chief Johnson: The Folly of a Blue City Politician

At yesterday’s Senate hearing on gun control, Ted Cruz once again stood out as an articulate voice for commonsense. After declaring the Senate to be a “fact-free zone,” he went on to destroy the myth that there is a consequential difference between an “assault weapon” and a regular semi-automatic rifle. You can watch him in action for the first 3.5 minutes of the clip.

Beginning at the 3:45 mark, Cruz finally confronts gun-grabbers with a question they can never answer. He asked Baltimore Police Chief Jim Johnson why states like Texas have a low homicide rate, even in urban areas, while gun-grabbing cities like DC, Chicago and Illinois are like warzones. Of course, he dodged the question and retorted with non-sequiturs and red herrings:

What an incoherent fool! I think he is suggesting that the homicide rates are not solid evidence of the number of shootings because of the modern medical care that saves people’s lives. If Baltimore and every other utopian blue city lacked the hospitals that places like Austin, Texas enjoy, he would have a point. But to my knowledge, every major urban area has good hospitals, and that is actually one positive thing about the city of Baltimore. The arguments to promote tyranny just get kookier by the day.

I’m from the city of Baltimore, and had to put up with the consequences of a failed city reminiscent of the third world. The prevalence of violent crime, among the other inherent vices of a blue utopia governed exclusively by leftists for a century, has chased out almost half the population. Baltimore is considered a major city, yet its population has dipped to 600,000 – less than some other cities that were considered small towns just a few years ago.

Baltimore is one of the most violent cities, given its diminutive size. It is notorious for rampant muggings and beatings, especially on public buses. The criminal-oriented laws are out of control in the area, particularly as it relates to juveniles. So many people in the neighborhoods I’ve lived in were able to identify repeat offenders who were caught and released by the local police. So many historic neighborhoods and communities are being ravaged by the lawlessness. Not a day goes by, when my family and friends have to modify their behavior and avoid certain locations (which is most of the city) like the plague. None of these crimes are committed with AR-15s or any other rifle. They are primarily perpetrated by lightly armed mobs or by men with pistols.

Chief Johnson, you know that Baltimore is practically a gun-free zone, with virtually no law-abiding citizen afforded the right to carry a gun. How dare you propagate your failed statism onto other parts of the country that are safe, especially when you are too impotent to protect my family from violence in Baltimore.

In fact, it is precisely for places like Baltimore, where large mobs randomly attack people, that there is a need for high-capacity magazines. Then again, thanks to the tyrannical laws upheld by your cronies – Governor Martin O’Malley and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake – we can’t carry any gun.

Johnson, if you’re looking to improve safety and control lawlessness, you ought to look in the mirror and clean up your own backyard before spreading your failed policies to other cities and states.